Andrew Friedman officially withdrew his name from consideration for the Astros’ general manager search yesterday, releasing a statement that said he “chose not to be a part of the Astros’ process” and “it is in no way a reflection on the Houston organization.”

Saying “it is in no way a reflection of the Houston organization” might be a stretch, but the Astros aren’t the first team Friedman has turned down and various sources seem to agree that his strong relationship with the Rays’ ownership is what’s keeping him in Tampa Bay.

Friedman was obviously Houston’s first choice, but he was always an extremely long shot and the bigger problem for the Astros is that several of their other top targets have also turned them down for interviews. However, according to Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle they’ve moved on from those rejections to interview “a half-dozen candidates … with the team looking largely at the pool of those with scouting and player development experience.”

In the meantime interim general manager David Gottfried is said to have full authority to make moves and he’s expected to, at the very least, try to unload Carlos Lee‘s contract and perhaps find a taker for Wandy Rodriguez.

Why not just let Gottfried himself run the team for a little while, to see what he can do? It’s not like anyone is jumping at this job, and the team’s not going anywhere anytime soon. If he has scouting and development insight, I say leave it to him.

Think about this with Mr. Friedman. The moment he “announces” that he’s moving somewhere else, a bunch of GMs will know their job is in jeopardy. He has one particular trait that’s a rare commodity in professional sports these days. Loyalty.

Face it, that’s a virtue and it’s worth a premium. Beyond that, who else with the “tools” at his disposal can take a perennial loser to where he has helped take it. Add then all the intangibles like attendance, not-the-best-stadium deal, whatever and it gives anyone a pretty good idea why he’s not planning on moving from St. Petersburg. Meaning, he has proven that he can be a star with those limitations. Any other accomplishments are just gravy.

Further, if it’s true that for his efforts he’s in line for an ownership stake in the team…figure it out.

being an astro fan and someone who was pulling for the rays in the AL in the world series i am happy for rays fans..friedman is total class and i applaude him for being different than other baseball execs who chase money over loyalty and stability..congrats to the rays for keeping him…